Into Darkness
by StarlessDreameres
Summary: It was just a normal day at MSA Jr. High, that is, untill the whole school disappears, and Mel and Ava find themselves in a parellel dimension where they must fight to save their lives, and the lives of the whole school, including one of their best friend
1. At School

Chapter 1: At School

A.N. hey! This is one of my first fan fics, so I'd really appreciation if people who read this would review to help me improve in any way possible!

_Introduction: Mel, Sam, and Ava are in 8th grade and have been best friends sense 7th grade, when Ava arrived at MSA before then Mel and Sami were best friends. Sami at 5'8" and a half feet, is the tallest, with glasses, and short black hair, Ava, at 5'6" is the middle on the scale of tallness with just past the shoulder length blonde hair, and green blue eyes that change with her mood, and Mel, the shortest at probably about 5'4" or 5'3" also has glasses, or contacts, with light brown, hair just a little shorter than Ava's, with darkish blue eyes._

"Hey Mel!" Ava yelled of the school cafeteria.

"Hey Ava!" she shouted back without looking away from her locker. Ava approached Mel, and stopped at her own locker, allowing her backpack to slide off her shoulder, and tossed her lunchbox over her shoulder. This was rewarded by a large thump, and a muffled

"Ouch!" Ava spun around to find a poor sixth grader sprawled on the top of the large pile of back packs and lunchboxes, looking quite dazed. Ava glancing both ways, edged away.

"What did you do now?" Mel asked, still rummaging through her locker.

"Another sixth grader, um… met the floor" Ava replied, again glancing around her at the strongly deserted cafeteria.

"You loser!" Mel said smiling. "That's the second time this week!" Mel stopped going through her locker to glance over at the pile, by now the sixth grader had gone, leaving a large indent. Now Ava was going through her locker.

"Hey, have you seen my notebook?" she asked her movements becoming frantic.

"Which one?" Mel asked, also returning to rummage in her locker, then pausing for a moment to look up at Ava. "Have you seen my book?"

"no" Ava replied absentmindedly "wait" she said stopping to look down at Mel "Which one?"

"umm…..Finnegan's Way, or something" Ava stepped back from her locker blinking blankly down at Mel.

"_Who's _way?"

"Finnegan's" Mel answered blandly.

"Who's that?" ava asked giving up and slamming her locker shut "and what do w need it for?"

"Ah I don't know it was some old book, I give up, maybe Sámi has it" replied Mel, slamming her locker door shut with vengeance, and glaring at it.

"Mel? Meelllll?" Ava asked staring at Mel confusedly, as her friend attempted to stare their locker down

Just then the bell rang with such ferocity that it made both girls jump.

"GAH!" Mel screamed snapping out of her trance

"BAH" Ava screamed slipping backwards on her butt with a resounding thump. Mel looked around blankly.

"Ava? Ava? Oh crap were really late" Mel spotted ava sprawled on the floor, laughing so hard that she was silent, face red and her hair tangled. At the sight of her, mel burst into giggles, offering her a hand. After a few minutes, Ava took her hand and got to her feel, brushing off her butt.

"Gosh that hurt" she said "crappers! Were late!"

Mel just nodded silently; she seemed to be watching something over her shoulder, her mouth dropped open, eyes wide open in terror, seemingly froze on whatever coming behind Ava.

"Mel? Mel? Mel what's wrong? Mel?-"she slowly began to turn around. When she saw it her eyes widened in fear, she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come, and then, it hit them, and Mel and Ava were knocked to the floor, and everything went dark.

A.N. Sorry it was so short, i'll try to make the rest longer! please R&R!


	2. The Beginning

Chapter 2: The Beginning

Ava was the first to come to her senses.

"SAMI!" she yelled "get off!" Sámi stood giggling madly. Ava tore the jacket off her and Mel's head, so that it was no longer dark. "Mel," she said nudging her friend beside her. Mel groaned and rolled over so she was lying on her back. She glared up at Sámi, who was giggling madly. Ava stood, dusted herself off, and held out a hand to Mel. Mel took her hand and soon she was standing, still glaring up at Sam, who was the tallest of the three.

"Sámi! That hurt! What were you doing?" Mel burst out. Sámi finally stopped giggling.

"Sorry! I was running towards you guys, but I slipped on these stupid floors!" she then burst into another fit of giggles. "Can we do that again? That was so fun!" She finally managed.

"That's because you landed on us!" Mel and Ava said at the same time, they froze, looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Once they had all finally managed to stop laughing, Ava gasps

"Ohmygosh guys! Were SO late!" she said, eyes wide.

"Holy crap!" Mel exclaimed "come one ava! See you at bible Sámi!" and then they split, Sámi turning and running down the hall and out the door, and Mel dragging ava into the math room. In the math room, things were in their usual state of chaos. David was disco dancing in corner, and Lexa, Sarah, and Brittney were giggling and squealing in another. They stepped in the room just as Mrs. Goodwin was taking role. She glanced up at them, and they went to their seats. Ava dropped into her seat and sighed; Mel sat down, and started to flip though her math book. Ava glanced around the room, and then turned back to Mel.

"Hey Mel, did we-"here she stopped, she was staring at something over Mel's shoulder with a stunned expression. Mel also noticed the room go quiet.

"What?" Mel asked "don't tell me Sami's about to fall on us again." She started to turn around" cause I don't think that I-" here Mel also stopped talking, standing in front of the class was a guy, a new one, he looked almost 14, with black hair, and shockingly green eyes, and he was staring right at Ava with the same expression. Mel looked at Ava, then back at the stranger. Suddenly Ava seemed to snap out of her trance looked at Mel.

"Huh? What?" she asked confusedly

"Well" Mel said "you were saying something then you stopped and started staring at that guy like you knew him or something.

"Oh, yay, I could swear I've seen him before" Ava said her voice distant. "anyway, you were saying?" she asked

"um, I wasn't, you were talking" Mel said glancing back at the guy who had now taken a seat in the back away from the crowds of the jabbering teens and had returned staring avidly at ava. _He's cute, _she admitted to herself _just not that cute, I mean compared to- _here ava interrupted her thoughts.

"Mel, Mel, come back to me Mel!" Ava said "what do you think of the new guy?"

"He's cute" Mel said absently

"Yeah," Ava sighed "But what does that matter? I have no chance."

"yeah." Mel said rolling her eyes, "not like he's looking at you or anything"

"Yeah-Hey I…." Ava started, but was cut off by Mrs. Goodwin.

"Hey! Settle down now! We have a new student, Jeremy. Wooding, "Jeremy glanced around giving a small half wave. The bell rang and Mrs. Goodwin went into negative numbers, but ava couldn't concentrate, she kept out trying to figure out where she had seen Jeremy before, Mel also could not concentrate, she was thinking about someone…

"Melanie, please do number 6." Mrs. Goodwin called out.

"ummm……" Mel said franticly trying to stall and find the question, and, better yet, get the answer, she scribbled out the equasion, mind working quick, and then, she had it "-4" she cried triumphantly

"yes," Mrs. Goodwin answered already scoping out her next victim "Ava, do number 7 please" ava jumped

"Huh? Oh um" Ava said stuttering, reaching for the first number that poped into her head, and then saying helplessly "positive eight?"

Mrs. Goodwin looked surprised "yeah, that's right, good job!" she stared at ava for a moment.

"Wow." Mel whispered, "Good job, where did that come from?"

Ava, still looking stunned, replied "I have no idea." Just then the bell rang and ava and Mel stated to get their stuff. They left the math room, got their stuff, and headed to the bible room. Sami was just plopping down in her regular seat when they entered.

"Hey Ava! Hey Mel!" she said smiling.

"Hey" they both answered, ava still slightly dazed.

"What's going on with ava?" Sami asked motioning to her friend.

"She just got the right answer in math when she wasn't paying attention, and-" Mel sat down next to her and leaned over to whisper in her ear "there's a new guy, and there like dead gone on each other. I'm serious, there just staring at each other, it gets kind of creepy."

Sam giggled. Ava sat down in her seat and Bible began. Bible was long and boring, due to their boring teacher, Mr. Scriber. And each of the girls once again felt their minds wandering. The bell finally had mercy on them and rang, and Sam, Mel and Ava wandered out the door.

"Hey!" Ava exclaimed "it's raining!"

"Omg I didn't notice that!" Sam said looking around, easily seeing above the crowds of people little 6th graders running franticly about to a few stray high schoolers , leisurely talking to their friends and leaning against the walls.

"well, anyway come on, ava" Mel said pulling ava out into the pouring rain. They were almost to the door, trudging through an especially large puddle that almost reached the top of both girls heels, and stretched for a few feel around, when suddenly Sam let out a piercing scream, and as the last notes of the scream rung out, complete and utter silence consumed Mel and Ava, the only sound being the rain, now crashing down on the roof of their school and splashing into the puddle in which they stood.Mel and ava spun around to find no one, no one at all, everything was completely deserted. Ava and Mel stared at each other.

"what-just-happened?" Ava asked totally confused

"How should I know asked Mel "um maybe the bell rang and we didn't hear it or-" Ava cut her off

"Mel…..Mel….. what's wrong with that…" she said staring terrifyingly down. Mel looked down to see the large puddle that they were standing in swirling silver and blue and green, every second becoming brighter and brighter, the colors rising from the puddle and swirling around them, a soft chanting had begun and was getting louder and louder every second. Ava and Mel were paralyzed. Now the noise was defining, there was a bright flash of white light, and both Mel and Ava fell back wards, as if in slow motion, arms flailing, trying franticly to steady themselves, but to no avail, into the puddle. They fell straight through the puddle into deep icy cold water. They saw the last few glimpses of their school through he top of the swirling puddle. They tried to scream, but water filled their lugs and both girls passed out, everything fading into an inky blackness.

A.N. sorry still kind of short, but it's longer than the last one! Please R&R!


	3. A New World

Chapter 3: A New World

A.N. Thanks to pearlwalrus and QueenTantoonie 4 reviewing! It really helped! Oh, and QueenTatoonie, if you read the last to chapters you will notices some slight changes! To answer you questions that are not answered by the changes, MSA has a Bible class because it is a Christian private school, but just because it is, and they have it, doesn't mean they pay more attention to it than other classes or that there really much different from public school kids. And no there feet didn't feet wet, cause they were wearing heels, and they didn't start to sink first. Thanks again for reviewing it really helped! Please continue to R&R!

Ava blinked, and sat up, "Mel?" she called looking around "Mel!" she called louder this time a muffled groan from underneath her told her that she was sitting on her. She jumped up, and there was Mel, but something was different she looked a little different.

Mel, she was no longer wearing her glasses, and instead of her MSA uniform, was wearing a rich purple colored skirt that went only a little longer than halfway down her thigh. The purple skirt had a gold edging and Amethysts were woven into the hem so it glinted and sparkled in the sunlight.

She also wore a rich purple top that was actually one with the skirt, a belt separated the top from the skirt, it was gold with a large amethyst set in the center and strange and ancient looking Ava could not make out, running all along the same hemming in the edges of the tank tops that the skirt had. But in the center of the tank top there was a design, embroidered in gold thread, the design was of a hill, a river in front of it, and a crescent moon above the hill and river at one end with a star at the other end.

Mel's hair also seemed longer, and darkened to a deep chocolate brown, with gold and purple glints in it. She wore a headband made of a thin gold band with a amethyst where it dipped down unto her forehead. She also wore a purple ribbon, the same color as her skirt and shirt, as a choker. She had on flat gold colored shoes with strings that crisscrossed till they tied right below her knee, at small neat bows.

She had a sword hanging from her belt, with a bold hilt and amethyst embedded in it, in a pure gold sheath. All this looked like it would way quite a bit exceptionally all together. Mel stirred, and her eyes fluttered open.

The first thing she noticed was that her glasses were gone, but she didn't seem to need them. She sat up to see Ava a few feet away, but Ava looked different. Instead of her MSA uniform, Ava was wearing a deep rich blue colored skirt that went only a little longer then half her thigh, with silver edging, and as she looked a little closer, she could see sapphires and Aquamarines woven into the hem which sparkled in the sunlight she wore a silver belt, which separated the rich blue top from the skirt.

The belt was made of pure silver, with a large Sapphire on the belt, and odd and ancient looking engravings carved all the way around the belt, the top was a tube top with the same edging as the skirt at the top and it had a design embroidered in silver thread, the design was of a hill, a river in front of it, and a crescent moon above the hill and river at one end with a star at the other end. She wore an aqua colored ribbon as a choker, with small glinting aquamarines in it.

Ava's hair was also longer, and bleached a lighter blond, her hair following in gentle curls down her back, and ending at the beginning of her belt. She wore a thin silver headband with an aquamarine where it dipped down to her forehead. She wore flat silver colored shoes with strings that crisscrossed till they tied right below her knee, at small neat bows.

She also noticed that Ava seemed to be staring at her in the same way that she was staring at her. She followed Ava's gaze down to her clothes, which she realized where almost just like Ava's in purple, gold and amethyst. Mel realized that all these jewels and the sword would way her down, and she probably wouldn't be able to get up, she tried, and to her surprise she found that the clothes didn't way her down at all, in fact, she felt exceptionally light. This movement seemed to shake Ava out of her trance, "hey Mel! Are you okay?" she asked

"Yeah, but what happened? And why are we in there clothes?" asked Mel fingering her own skirt.

"We?" Ava asked, then looking down went "Wow! I love my outfit!" then she noticed a silver strap across her chest, she took it off to find a bow, it was pure silver with aquamarines and sapphires embedded in it. It weighed almost nothing, and then she noticed that there had been an identical strap under the one she had just removed, she took that off to find a beautiful blue silk quiver with a lot of arrows in it, the arrows looked like they were made of pure silver, but the arrowheads where either an aqua or a sapphire, and they looked razor sharp.

"Awesome!" Ava exclaimed, examining it for a few more minutes before she slung both straps back over her shoulder again. Mel was now staring wide eyed at their surroundings. Ava followed her gaze seeing that they just now starting to look around at her surroundings. She saw that they were standing in a peaceful meadow.

The sky above was startlingly blue with tints of purple here and there, the clouds were pure white with pale blue undersides, and the sun was much larger than any sun that she had ever seen before. The peaceful meadow which they were standing in was a vibrant green with strange and brightly colored flowers dotting it's surface. The trees surrounding the meadow were a dark and shadowy green.

"Where are we?" Ava asked turning around to take the whole scene in.

"I have no idea" Mel sighed sitting back down on the grass. Ava joined her. The grass, ava noticed, was silky smooth, unlike most of the grass back in Florida.

"Ok, what happened?" Ava asked

"um, well we were going back to our lockers, to get out stuff for social studies…" Mel began

"And it was raining.." ava added

"Yeah, and we were halfway to the door when…." They looked at each other

"Sam screamed" they said in unison, then noticing what they had did again, grinned at each other.

"But why did Sam scream?" ava asked trying tot think back "oh, and why was it was so quiet after she screamed?"

"I dunno we turned around to see but…." Mel said

"no one was there, and then there was a bunch of swirling colors in the puddle that we were standing in, and we were falling, into really cold water, and I tried to scream, but water filled my lungs and"

"Everything went dark" Mel finished looking thoughtful "and were in a totally different place, we look a little different, were wearing totally different clothes, I have a sword, and you have a bow and arrow, and I don't need my glasses anymore." Ava looked at Mel with wide eyes.

"Ohmygosh Mel, what if….." Mel seemed to read her mind

"No, it's can't be"

"But maybe.." Ava started again

"It is." Mel finished

"It sounds weird, but somehow everything fits, I mean how else would all of this happened?" Ava asked.

"I know" Mel started "but it's just so……"

"Weird" they both said together. Then both burst out laughing.

"Wow" Ava said, finally catching her breath "that's freaky, we gotta stop doing that."

"Yeah I know" Mel said with one last giggle.

"Hey, there's still some things we haven't covered, why are we here? What are we supposed to do now?" Ava asked

"I don't know, I guess we should just start walking maybe we'll figure our what happened to Sami" Mel said standing up

"Hey" Ava said also standing up "do you think that Sami, and everyone else in out school got here too? To this um.. new world?"

" I have no idea" Mel said, and then adding thoughtfully "wow we finally got our wish, were in a different world, and I still don't fully believe it"

"Yeah me either" ava replied, then looking around asked "so which way?"

"I dunno "Mel said with a shrug "you choose."

"Uh, ok," Ava said unconsciously biting her lower lip in thought "oh I know!" she exclaimed her face lighting up, she extended her right arm and pointed her finger straight ahead, then she started spinning around and around. Mel watched with amusement. Ava stopped spinning after a few minutes, and opened her eyes, staggering slightly "that way" she gasped before falling down onto the grass. After a few moments Ava sat up again "Let's go!" she called to Mel, who was still staring at her with a slightly amused expression.

"Wow" is all Mel said smiling and shaking her head. Ava stood up, and they headed off into the mysterious, dark, and shadowy woods.

A.N. Hey! Sorry it was kind of a stalling chapter! But it was longer! Please R&R, I take constructive criticism well, but no mean reviews please! Thanks!


	4. The Prisoner

Chapter 4: Prisoner

Meanwhile……

Sam's eyes fluttered open. _Where am I? _She thought staring blankly at the stone ceiling that must have been at least 40 feet above her. She became painfully aware that she was lying on top of something small and solid. She sat up "whoa, where am I?" Sam muttered aloud. She looked around at the sold grey walls circling all around her. A tiny barred window about 10 feet up was the only break in the monotonous stone walls. She blinked, rubbing her eyes, this couldn't be right, she was just at school….. She looked down on the hay covered floor she was sitting on. She turned around to see what she had been laying on. There was a small green glint in the hay, and she reached out to grab it. To her surprise it was a emerald about two inches wide and three long, in the unmistakable shape of a leaf, the workmanship on it was extraordinary, every detail of the leave life like and precise. She stared at it for a while, admiring the green shimmers threw on the wall when the sun hit it, it was without a doubt, the most beautiful thing Sam had ever seen. She reached down to put it in the pocket of her uniform, but there was no pocket, she looked down to see that her plaid read and white skirt was gone, replaced with a beautiful forest green skirt that when only halfway down her thigh. It had white edging with was looked like emeralds and peridots woven into the hem of the skirt. She fingered its silky surface. She also noticed that she had a belt, it was made of white pearl with a large emerald embedded in it, as she looked closer at the belt, she made out strange marks like nothing she had ever seen. She also noticed that she was wearing a forest green tube top of the same silky material,. She could just make out something on the chest of her top; it was a design, of some sort, with a river in fond of a hill, and a crescent moon at one edge and a star at the other. She looked down at her feet to see white colored flat shoes with strings that crisscrossed up her leg to just right under her knees, and tied in neat little bows. She stood, and stared upon at the ceiling again she could just make out a trap door at the top, that blended right into the stone ceiling, a grey wood, that looked slightly out of place. " wow I'm in a pit or something" Sam said out loud and then "wait a second, how did they get me down here without killing me?" at that moment the felt a little warmth and vibration from her hand, she looked down to see that she was still clutching the jewel she had found, but now it was glowing and vibrating softly, she dropped it, startled. The moment it left her hand it stopped glowing and vibrating and landed silently in 3inch deep hay. "hmm, that was odd, I wonder what-" Sam's mumbling was interrupted by a tiny voice

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity" Sam jumped, she hadn't realized that she was not alone; she looked around the small, circular prison, searching for the owner of the voice. "Being able to hear me is the second" the voice muttered.

"Who said that?" Sam asked, looking up, to see the trap door still closed.

"Yep, your thoroughly on your way to insanity" the voice said.

Sam looked down at the hay covered floor, and then to the beginning of the wall, there she noticed a small white mouse staring unblinkingly up at her. "No" Sam said to herself "it can't be…"

"There you go again, muttering to yourself, and yes, for information, I am the mouse." It said with an indignant tone.

"Huh?" Sam said unintelligently still not believing that the voice was coming from the mouse.

"I'm the mouse" it said "deal with it."

"But, you're a……" Sam groped for the right words "talking mouse" she finished lamely.

"I'm a talking mouse, you're a listening human, your point was?"

"Wait what do you mean I'm a listening human?" Sam asked

"Mice have always talked; you humans just never took the time to listen"

"Oh.." Sam said, confused, "but…but…."

"But what?"

"Oh I don't know," Sam said, sighing "I don't know anything, why shouldn't you be a talking mouse? I'm in a strange place with way different, but awesomely cool clothes, not to mention I'm in some sort of pit dungeon, and does everybody in this place understand mice?"

"No" the mouse said simply "only you, they don't have time to listen either."

"But…but…why?" Sam asked confused

"Well, I suppose because you are one of them." The mouse said, then seeming to realize something said "No! Your one of _them_" it said.

"One of who? Or what?" Sam asked

"One of the chosen" the mouse replied.

"The chosen for what or whom?" Sam asked, getting impatient

"One of the deliverers" the mouse replied with what Sam could swear was reverence.

"Deliverer of _what_?" Sam asked impatiently.

"To set us free from the Kzares."

"The _WHAT_?" Sam asked, but before the mouse could give another short and un-satisfactory answer, there was a clang, and the mouse disappeared into a small burrow in the hay. There was a creak, Sam looked up to see the trapdoor opening, on a unknown impulse, she quickly kicked some hay over the emerald, hiding it from view. The trap door opened and a hideous face appeared in the square hole. It was a sickly shade of green, with a crooked nose, small beady black eyes, and a simple line for its mouth, its face covered with disgusting warts.

"Ahh, the prisoner is awake" cracked a voice just as ugly as the face. " I guess you must eat, I wouldn't feed you, but" it said with regret in it's voice as if it was missing some great fun keeping her alive "masters orders. And with that he started lowering a small wooden plank that had a wooden bowl and pitcher on them, when it reached the bottom, the rope un-hooked it's self from the plank and was receded quicly back to the trap door disappearing from view. The ugly face gave a screeching giggle that slightly resembled someone scratching long nails across a chalk board, and then the trap door was dropped shut with a loud band as it closed, leaving Sam in blessed silence, and shadow. Sam removed her hands from her ears which she had unknowingly flung to her hears to block out that terrible laugh. She walked over to the wood plank, and peered inside the pitcher, it was a clear liquid.

"Hm, I wonder if it's water" Sam asked out loud, noticing for the first time how terrible thirsty she was. She shrugged her shoulders desperate for something wet, even if it wasn't water, it would be better than nothing, she lifted the pitcher to her lips, and took a large gulp, just as she heard the mouse scream, "No! Don't-" but it was to late, Sam let the pitcher slip out of her hands unto the floor, landing with a muffled thump on the hay and spilling all its contents. Drowsiness overcame her, and she crumpled to the floor, letting herself sink into dark oblivion.

A.N. I know a little sort, sorry! R&R pleaz, thanks 4 reviewing everbody!


	5. Into the Forest

Chapter 5: Into the Forest

As Mel and Ava drew closer to the woods the trees seemed to just get taller, and by the time they reached the edge of the woods the trees were the size of redwoods

"Whoa" Ava said looking up trying to see the tops of them. As they entered the shadowy forest a faint sweet smell reached them "mmmm" Ava mumbled "that smells good, where's it coming from?"

Mel looked around "I think it might be the trees "she answered drawing closer to the nearest one, and sniffing it. Ava burst out in a fit of giggles at the sight Mel realized how strange she must have looked and joined in the laughing. "It is the trees" Mel finally said recovering from her laughing "but what is that smell?" Ava thought for a moment

"It's like a cold northern night by a campfire in the woods, and some kind of holiday spice" She said in a thoughtful tone

"Yeah!" Mel said "just like that stuff Mrs. Elrod burned in science"

"Yeah!" Ava said, then looking around asked "Well, should we go on?"

"Oh, yeah, lets go" Mel said.

The farther they got into the forest the gloomier it got. After a few hours they reached a small clearing "Ooohh!" ava said eyes wide and pointing at something in the clearing Mel looked where Ava was pointing she drew in her breath there was a shining lake with sparkling waters surrounded by deep green grass and a tree by the left end of the lake, some kind of fruit tree by the looks of it, but what was truly extraordinary was the animal drinking from the clear lake. It was silvery white and resembled a horse with a white main and tail but what Mel couldn't take her eyes off of was the pearly horn protruding from its muzzle. It looked razor sharp at the tip and silky smooth at the sides, and it shone slightly in the light of the sun. Suddenly it seemed to sense their presence it stopped drinking and lifted its head. They both gasped they couldn't help it, it's eyes were extraordinary, they were large with think dark eyelashes, and they eye color was what was so shocking, they were the color of pure water, a tinted clear blue at the center and then near the edges there were rainbow colors, and the rainbow colors were in vibrant colors, more vibrant and pure than Mel or Ava had ever seen.They stood for a few minutes, the thing starring unblinkingly straight at them, and them staring breathlessly back, then, suddenly, the Animal turned and calmly walked out of the cleaning and into the shadowy forest at the other end. Ava let out the breath she had been holding in a long sigh.

"Was that what I think it was?" Ava asked still staring at the place where the thing had been only moments ago, small indents in the silky grass from its hooves.

"I don't know, what do you think it was" asked Mel

"A unicorn" Ava answered dreamily

"I think so" said Mel

"Wait a minute" Ava said "so we really were thrown into a parallel universe?"

"I guess so" Mel said absentmindedly fingering a flower on a nearby bush.

"Hmmm…." Mumbled Ava thinking "well I don't know about you, but even if we are in a parallel universe, I'm thirsty, and that lake looks great"

Mel smiled "ya and I'm hungry, too, and that tree looks promising, lets go" the entered into the clearing and headed for the lake when they got to the edge both girls gasped. The lake was pure and clean, with beautiful shining pebbles at the bottom, Ava fell to her knees onto the think, soft grass, and cupped her hands, and dipped them into the clear water, she brought it to her lips and sipped a little of it cautiously

"Mmmm" Ava exclaimed and a cold, pure, sweet taste filled her mouth, without question the best water she had ever had, she gulped the rest down and scooping up some more up, Mel fell to her knees also, and followed suit,

"This is good" Mel said between gulps. Ava nodded as she gulped more down; she finally stopped her thirst thoroughly quenched.

"wow" she said sighing "everything's better in this world, I mean, the sun is bigger, the air is cleaner, the water is more pure and sweet then anything I've ever had, the trees are taller and give off more shade, there's unicorns, and we have these awesome outfits."

"Hhhmmm" mumbled Mel still gulping down the liquid

"Save some water for the fishies" Ava teased, giggling. Mel stopped drinking only enough to give Ava a dirty look then went back to drinking. Ava wandered off to the tree. As she got close she realized that the fruits that hung from the heavy lush branches were small and purple, like a plum. Ava reached up and picked one off it was firm, but soft "I wonder it is edible" ava wondered turning it around in her hand "only one way to find out" And with that she bit off a piece, the taste was terrible and very sour and she spit it out right away, dropped the remainder of the fruit, and ran back to the water with a pinched look on her face. She dropped to her knees once again and began furiously gulping the sweet water down. Mel, who had just finished looked at her with an evil grin on her face and said

"Save some water for the fishies" in a high-pitched mocking voice. Ava froze, looked up and gave her the dirtiest, darkest look that Mel had ever seen. Mel laughed and Ava went back to drinking "hmm" Mel said after a little bit "well I'm really hungry, I'm going to see if that fruit on that tree tastes any good" she turned to leave, and Ava grinned evilly between gulps, just barely getting the disgusting taste out of her mouth.A few moments later, Mel came running back with a disgusted sour look on her face, dropped to her knees and plunged her head funny into the water, gulping heavily, when her dripping head emerged once again Ava remarked

"Nasty little things, aren't they? Mel froze and looked up at her

"You knew?" she asked incredulously

"Yup" ava smiled sweetly "that's what I came barreling back for water for"

"Why didn't you tell me that they were disgusting?" Mel asked, her eyes getting narrow, as she pushed her wet hair over her shoulder.

"well hmm……lets see" ava said "one I was to busy trying to get the taste out of my mouth, and two you were mocking me, so you deserved it." Mel rolled her eyes, and stood up.

"Loser" she said, but she was smiling.

"Right back at ya" Ava said smiling "hmm…I wonder" Ava said looking at the fruit tree.

"Wonder what?" asked Mel

"I wonder if maybe the fruit would taste good cooked"

"I dunno" Mel said "they might, in fact, they would have to, I don't think anything could taste worse than it was raw"

"True" said Ava pondering that thought, and how they could cook the fruit. " well I really feel like we should be moving, and we should walk as we talk from now on, so lets just take some of the fruit with us, and we'll see later if they do"

"Ya, we could, except that we don't have anything to carry them with" Mel said

"Oh, right" Ava said remembering that she no longer had her backpack or purse with her.

"I guess we will just have to take a chance that there will be something later on" Ava said sighing

"ya," said Mel, "I don't feel vary hungry anyways, well lets go then!" she said and with that she started off unto a brisk walk towards the shadowy woods on the other side of the clearing, she reached the edge, turned around, motioned for ava to hurry up, and stepped into the forest, completely disappearing from Ava's view. Ava reached up and grabbed who of the fruits, shoving them into her quiver just in case, and set off towards the woods after Mel, she was almost to the edge when she heard a loud scream from the direction that Mel had gone,

"oh no!" Ava exclaimed "MEL!" Ava broke into a run, sprinting towards the woods, only hoping that she would not be to late, and disappearing into the dark woods.


	6. Back to the Dungeon

Chapter 6: Back to the Dungeon

Meanwhile, Back in the dungeon….

Sami awoke that morning to a pounding headache; she sat up, groaning and looking around at her surroundings. Suddenly everything came flooding back to her, she was coming out of Bible towards the music room, where he locker was, when a grotesque, dark shape slipped out of the glass door, it was dark and shadowy with glowing red eyes, Sam it seemed had been the only one able to see it, others walked right past, chattering to their friends. The shadow and begun to drift towards Ava and Mel, when Sam let out a piercing scream, it had attracted it's attention, and in a moment it was there was by Sam, time froze, everyone except Mel and Ava vanished, and they were frozen in place like terribly accurate and beautiful waxworks, half way facing her, obviously caught in mid-whirl. It was reaching out towards her drawing nearer, the terrible cold darkness looming closer, pulling her in, sucking the life from her, she wanted to scream again, to run, to warn Mel and Ava, anything to get away from the terrible dark coldness that was sweeping over her taking control of her mind and boldly functions, freezing her in place, then it was upon her, all the warmth and consciousness swept from her body, she gave one last shudder, and collapsed, never hitting the ground but rushing, rushing, somewhere. But where? "_Here_." She answered herself, and then here she was in this pit, talking to mice, then that thing delivered her water-the water! That had to be it, the water contained something, something that had caused this terrible headache. She reached up to clutch her head.

"I told you not to drink the water" said as small, smug sounding voice

"Is it the mouse again?" Sam asked looking around, trying to locate the owner of the voice

"No, it's the wall, of course it's the mouse!" The mouse said in a highly sarcastic voice, moving out of the shadows into plain sight.

"oh, there you are "Sam said, spotting the mouse and walking towards it, she sat down about a foot or two away from it "now tell me where I am and what you meant by 'one of the chosen', by the way, that's a way overused phrase" the mouse looked as if it would very much like to tell her nothing for that comment, but it knew it must. It gave a small, very mouse like sigh, and began

"Well it's all foretold in the prophesy of Zella-"

"Wait a minute" Sam cut in "prophesy? How story bookish is _that? _I mean, come on, you could be a little more original"

"Would you like to tell this story?" the mouse asked annoyed.

"I would tell it better" Sam mumbled under her breath, the mouse pretended no to here her, and went on

"I can't exactly quote the prophesy, but it tells of 3 girls going against great odds to set their people, and the whole kingdom of Ansella free from the tyrants that control us, the Kzares, that is, and then it says some more, but I just can't seem to recall it…" the mouse said voice trailing off, knowing that it mustn't tell anymore of the prophesy.

"Ok" Sam said "so you mean to tell me that me, and two other girls are supposed to set this whole place, anselet-"

"Ansella" the mouse corrected wearily.

"Ya whatever" Sam continued "free from the kzarethingies?"

"Kzares" the mouse corrected again

"Ya sure whatever" Sam continued "you get the point, what do they mean 'my people' my whole universe has been sucked into this place by this thingamojoms?"

"I don't know" the mouse said feeling agitated, "I just told you what the prophecy said, I don't know what they meant by it, and got Goodness sakes, its KZARES,"

"Whatever, so I'm not supposed to drink the water, why? And what does it do?"

"That is not water, it's a mixture of kumjum fruit, and tilti leaves that causes the drinker to sleep for who knows how long, sometimes it will result in an enchanted sleep, or flash backs of past events. The tilti leaves cause you to realize how hungry or thirsty you are, when you get to close to it."

"Wow this is weird" Sam said in a disbelieving voice "I'm in a new world of some sort, in this weird prison, talking to a mouse about water that makes you sleep, I must be dreaming" the mouse sighed

"About time you went into shock, you've been taking this in to fast"

"I'm in a movie..." Sam speculated obviously no longer aware of the mousse presence, her eyes unfoucusing" that's it, their trying to make me think it's real so I'll act better, right outside these walls, people are having their coffee breaks" Sam said, her voice getting higher pitched. "These walls "she said eyes getting wider and wider "their made out of foam! Or plywood! I could make it fall over!" the mouse sensing where this was going yelled

"No, don't!" But it was too late, in a sheer moment of madness, she ran towards the wall shoving all her height and weight into momentum, smacking the solid stone wall with a loud thud, and crumpling to the floor, whimpering

"Hard wall" she croaked, clutching her bruised wall. The mouse just watched, he had forgotten to mention that a side affect of that stuff was a few minutes of insanity, depending on how much they had consumed, and there mental stamina, not helped in her case by the fact that she was just learning that she had been transported into a parallel dimension. After a while Sam's head cleared, and her shoulder stopped throbbing as painfully, although it still produced a dull ache. "so it's real" she said in a small voice, mind rapidly trying to accept the fact "but how-"there was a thud above, and she saw the trap door beginning to open, she didn't know why, but she rapidly and silently sunk to the floor, pretending to still be sleeping, she felt the presence of that ugly creature, she sensed that rope, slithering down to pick up the old tray, and she know that more was on the way. The thing cackled quietly to itself murmuring vile things under its breath. Finally Sam heard the door thud shut and then all was silent once more. Sam cracked one eye open, she saw a new tray sitting in the center of the cell, its enticing false innocence reaching out to her, she felt the urged to draw towards it, she struggled, _"No!"_ she fought, "_NO_ don't drink it!" her mouth felt as dry as a desert, her tongue sandpaper against the roof of her mouth, she turned away, breaking contact from the tray, breathing heavily, soon her mouth was back to normal, and she had calmed down. She sat down, facing the wall, and curled up into as small a ball as her long legs could manage and closed her eyes, her thoughts going back to Ava and Mel, wondering where they were, and if they too had been transported to this strange world.

Dante limped though the torch lit corridors, his club foot slowing him down, this was good, this was very good indeed, the girl had been fool enough to drink! Oh master would be pleased, very pleased indeed. He reached the large wooden door and knocked with the large brass knocker, immediately the brass snake on the knocker sprung to life looking at Dante, eyes glowing a sickly green,

"Enter" it hissed, and the door swung open. He limped down the narrow room towards the high-backed chair, turned away from him, towards a fireplace whose flames were a nasty green, tipped with black, licking the logs in the fire cruelly. Yet the flames did not let off any heat at all, leaving the room in its icy cold chill, he bowed down a few feet from the chair

"Master, I bring good news" he rasped, the chair was slowly turned around to reveal a tall, bony, man with skin so pale and stretched that it was almost transparent, and you could see the unnaturally blackish green veins in his forehead. He had oily, scraggly black hair with slight streaks of gray and red, dirty orange colored eyes, with more than a hint of insanity in every singly glance, his pupils were merely slits, his mouth a cruel slash in his peaked face. His nose was sharp and cruel like a hawks, his chin bony, and fingers long and twisted, he had fingernails that looked like talons, they were yellow and cracked, and he reeked of death and suffering.

"yesssss, Dante whaat isss it?" he asked drawing out his s's in his snake-like voice.

"The prisoner, master, she was fool enough to drink! I found her passed out on the prison floor"

"Fool!" he cried triumphantly "ssssshe issssn't ssssso ssssmart, now isss ssshe?"

"No master, nothing compared to you, my lord, my master, my-"

"Enough!" he snapped "I am growing weary of your tongue, ssssilence it or I sssshall do it for you. How much did sssshe drink?"

"The pitcher was empty master." Dante answered

"good, ssshe issss greedy, I admire greed, now go and prepare her sssuper, jussst in casssse ssshe getssss up" Dante rose clumsily, bowing profusely

"yes, yes master, right away master, most defiantly your servant will-" she stammered ringing his hands and still bowing.

"GO! You idiot!" Dante stumbled into action, limping and tripping backwards out the door, muttering more apologies, and _"yes master, of course master, right away master"_'s under his breath, getting out the door and shutting it behind him, hurrying off. When the mad heard the faint thumps of his minion fading, he grinned cruelly, revealing sharp yellow fangs, and laughed, the high-pitched insane laughter of a mad man, his forked tongue slithering in and out. This was good; he had her right where he wanted her, helpless, and defenseless in her dreams.

A.N. yay! Enter crazy bad guy! Muhahhaa! So how was it? Sorry it took so long, the hurricane came, and then I lost half of the chapter…..anyway, more to come soon hopefully! Please R&R I do accept anonymous reviews.


	7. Nightfall and a Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 7: Nightfall and a Mysterious Stranger

Mel screamed again, Ava ran harder though the woods drawing closer, then, she could see Mel, watching something in terror, Ava spun around to find a tall, pink skinned lug of a creature with wild also pink hair, who was waving a very deadly looking club with spikes, and every minute drawing dearer

"Mel" Ava screamed "your sword!" Mel clutched her sword hilt and ava reached back, took her bow, and blindly grabbing a sapphire arrow, she strung it, ready to let it fly straight at the creatures hear, if it came any nearer, Mel unsheathed her sword it's blade flashing defiantly Still, it drew nearer Ava drew back the arrow a little more, and let it fly whizzing straight towards the creatures chest, the arrow began glowing fiercely casting a sapphire light all over the forest, then, it hit, and sliced into the creatures heart, the thing screamed in rage and pain, falling to the ground, it twitched for a few moments, then lay still. Without realizing it, Ava had grabbed another arrow, strung it, and had it ready just in case, for a few more minutes Mel and Ava stood there panting, ready for more mortal combat. The creature's moans subsided and it lay still, it was silent for a few moments, then, slowly Ava lowered her bow and eased up on the tension.

Mel lowered her sword. "Nice shot Ava" Mel said hen she had recovered "where'd you learn that?"

"I didn't" Ava said putting the arrow back in the quiver

"What o you mean you didn't? That was a nice shot, and I know you, that had to be practiced."

Ava, engorging the last statement replied "I've only used a bow once in my life, its the bow I think, and the arrows, that glowing thing was not natural. But hey, where did you learn how to hold a sword, like that?

Mel looked down at her hand which was still clutching the sword, "well," Mel coughed "I've always had a certain knack for-"

Ava cleared her thought loudly

"Ok, ok Mel admitted, so I've never held a sword in my life, I guess it's the sword too, I can't even begin to believe that I'm saying this, but you might, and might I said, be right"

Ava laughed, then looking back to the creature on the forest floor, "Mel where did my arrow go?" she asked staring at the thing, it still had the wound, and was bleeding profusely, but the arrow had vanished. Ava took her quiver off and peered inside "MEL! "She shouted "it's here! The arrow is back in my quiver!"

"are you sure?" Mel asked doubtingly "yes." Ava said firmly " I counted them, three aqua and three sapphire, and the arrows gone from that" Ava paused, "thing" she said in disgust, she had always hated pink.

"Well, we are in a new world, so I guess anything's possible."

"Ya," said Ava in awe

"let's go" Mel said finally sheathing her sword, and stepping around the large and bloody body of the lifeless creature. Ava followed and fell in step with her. they walked in silence for a while, ducking under think vines, stepping over fallen trees and logs, as hey got into the heart of the forest the trees started to grow closer and closer together, until it was dark as night

"Mel," Ava said voice shaking as she stumbled over an unseen log.

"Yea" she answered

"I don't like this place" Ava said glancing around, something about it, just isn't right" she said glancing around a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. she wasn't afraid of the dark normally, but this was something different about this dark it was suffocation, squeezing happiness, and life itself out of both of them, drawing there energy out, only to make it stronger.

"me either" Mel said, then she spotted something ahead of her, it was a faint shining of aqua moving just ahead of her in the forest.

"Ava, what's that?" Mel called

"What's what, Mel?"

"That strange aqua glow" she said,

the light stopped abruptly "where?" Ava called,

as Mel drew closer to the light she saw it was really Ava, "Ava!" she cried "your glowing, or, rather, something on you is glowing!"

"eeewww! Bug? Get it off!" Ava cried swatting at her forehead, as she did the light blinked out. "Ahh got it I think" Ava said relaxing.

She lifted her hand away and the light burst back into existence, illuminating Mel's face. "Your headband!" Mel cried, "That's it! Your headband stone is glowing!" Ava reached up and gingerly touched the light; it gave her a warm, reassuring feeling. They resumed walking, but Ava kept fiddling with her headband, after a few twists and turns of the jewel, it fell out unto Ava's palm. Mel, noting the light change glanced over, "Ava! you dork! You broke it!" she cried.

"I didn't break anything, shut up!" Ava snapped, horrified at her own assumptions that she had in fact broken it, she picked up the stone with her thumb and forefinger, to examine it, it seemed to have some sort of writing on it, shining, suddenly she felt the urge to twist the gem, she did so, and it grew larger, into a aqua orb of light, till it was as big as both of her hands could easily carry, the orb was completely weightless, as if it was just hovering over her hands.

Mel just stared wide eyed. Mel, regaining her composure, looked from the stone to Ava's face, and gasped. all the traces of the sky, unsure girl of 13 had vanished, leaving a tall womanly figure, the aqua glow shining over her, staring into the depths of the blue orb in her hands, blonde hair cascading gracefully down her back, she seemed to glow, she looked exactly like a fictional character in one of Ava's favorite books.

Ava looked up, eyes, shimmering with the aqua glow, met her innocently, completely unaware of her transformation. "What Mel?"

Mel felt a pang of jealously, why did Ava get to be pretty here? "What happened Ava?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"You, look different, older." Mel said.

"Oh," Ava said, pondering this "well it makes sense, I suppose, if were in a different world, why shouldn't we become different? I bet you've changed too." before Mel had time to think this through, Ava burst out "look, I know this light is helping, but this dark is still giving me the creeps, can we contemplate our looks a little later?" then she turned and started out into the darkness once more. Calling over her shoulder "common Mel, I'll tell you what you look like when I can see better, you can do the same for me, if we have time."

Mel sighed, they began walking. "_Why does she get the light_" Mel thought, feeling extremely grumpy. "_She's probably just going to drop it_" she caught up to Ava.

Ava looked over and smiled, then looked forward again privately thinking, "_Well, it's about time i got something Mel didn't. I bet she thinks I'll drop it-oh better be more careful, almost fell_"

And so they continued though the forest, both Mel and Ava occasionally stumbling, but not falling, in spite of the light. soon, the wood thinned, and Ava looked up a moment to see millions of diamond-like stars shining and winking in there celestial glory and un-familiar constellations, with a few wisps of cloud here and there, and a bright crescent moon, spilling light unto the forest to create a moonlit path. Its beauty took her breath away. She stopped short gaping at the heavens, starlight reflecting in her eyes; Mel looked up also, and stared at the beautiful sky, searching in vane for a familiar constellation.

Eventually Ava looked down, to see Mel, still staring at the stars, a concentrated look on her face. And she understood what Mel had meant, for the young, frustrated, and struggling Mel had vanished, in her place, a taller woman, the moonlight reflected in her dark, raven colored hair, and in the place of meager knowledge was replaced with wise intelligence, and vast understanding much beyond hr 13 years.

At that moment Ava caught herself thinking about Jeremy, if he had seen Mel, she wouldn't stand a chance, he would never be able to look away from her. Ava sighed, "_Well_" she thought struggling to cheer herself up "_at least you've got the light, and besides, Jeremy's not here_" that reminded her, and she twisted the orb backwards till it shrank, and she replaced it in her headband.

Carefully clearing her face of all despair, and slight envy for her friend, she cleared her throat. "watcha lookin for?"

"Ursa major." Mel replied still searching the stars, with no success.

"What?" Ava asked partly confused, and partly just checking to make sure what she thought, it was, was right.

Mel smiled and looked back at her again "The big dipper."

"Ahh" Ava murmured smiling "to find the north star, right?"

Mel froze as if surprised she knew something like that. "Yea," she finally replied.

"But what difference would it make?" Ava asked "even if was here, which I doubt it is, I mean were lost anyway, we don't know what lies in any direction whatsoever."

Mel sighed "I guess so, I was just thinking that maybe, jut maybe they would have the same sky, it was entirely possible."

Ava shrugged "why would they? It's a whole different world" they walked in silence for a few moments, and Ava broke the silence with a loud yawn. "I'm tired, how about you?" she asked, stretching

"Ya, so am I, but lest try to find a clearing before we sleep, who knows what lives in these woods"

"who knows what lives anywhere" Ava added she glanced down and noticed that her light was still glowing, going on guesswork, she twisted it the opposite way, and it shrunk, dimming, she set it back onto her headband, twisting it into place. The light dimmed, even more, Ava concentrated on trying to shut it off, and it winked out.

She opened her eyes, to see Mel, waiting "you ready?" she asked Ava nodded and they continued walking through the woods. After a while they came to a small clearing in the woods.

Ava listened for a second "hey!" she said, smiling "there's water near by!"

"Huh?" Mel asked she listened but heard nothing "I don't hear anything" she said frowning.

"There's water near by" Ava said simply

"No, there's not" Mel said irritably

"There is" Ava repeated

"fine then, show me this water of yours" Ava shrugged , turned to her right, and walked purposefully onto the woods. Mel rolled her eyes and followed. They walked for about 5 minutes when Mel stated to hear a faint rushing sound as they drew closer, the sound got louder and louder, and by the time they stepped out of the woods into yet another small clearing, the roar was almost deafening.

She looked up the find that they were against one of the mountains, from the tall dark mountain water cascaded from about two miles up, coming to crash into a pool at the bottom. Mist drifted from the large cloud of spray where the water from the waterfall met the pool, almost touching the shore, where the water was calm, giving the whole scene a ghostly, yet beautiful appearance.

"It's beautiful" was all Mel could say, blinking again and again to check if it was all real or not.

"Water" Ava said smiling.

Mel sighed and rolled her eyes "all right, all right, you were right, but how did you know? Those sound waves couldn't have possibly reached your ears from that far of a distance."

Ava frowned "um… I dunno" Ava finally said "I-I- just knew where it was, I sensed, I guess." Ava replied falteringly.

"hmmm" was all Mel said trying to sound unconcerned , but she was thinking hard

"Anyway" Ava said abruptly "does it matter where or how we got water?"

"No" Mel mused "I suppose not"

"Well, then, I dunno about you, but after that long walk, that water looks delicious." They walked over to the pool and stretched their hands into the mist, dipping their fingers in the icy water. They both brought up handfuls to drink; neither was in the mood to pull a full face in this water. They drank their fill of the cool sweet water, and it helped wake them up a bit.

Soon, though they stood and turned to leave "wait a minute" Mel said "which way is back?"

Ava looked around, "um... why do we want to go back?" Ava said loudly

"Because it was a good spot you loser!" Mel shouted over the waterfall, frustrated at the thought of having to try to sleep with that racket going on constantly in the back ground.

"So?" I bet there are tons of good places here!" Ava shouted back over the rushing water.

"I can't sleep with this racket!" Mel screamed

"What?" Ava shouted "who can't leap with out their brackets?"

Mel shook her head in frustration, finally dragging Ava with her though the forest for a way till the sound was mostly gone, and they could hear one another clearly."Mel, "Ava said "your always saying how completely random me and Sam are-

"Sam and I" Mel cut in with a sigh

"Yea whatever, anyway that thing about the leaping bracket thing was so random"

Mel rolled her eyes "I said 'I can't sleep with this racket'"

"Oh, well problem solved, the racket is gone" Ava said simply, not quite understanding why Mel had so many problems with this world.

"Ya, but of you haven't noticed were not in a clearing" Mel said, but just then, they stepped out of a particularly dense bunch of trees and bushes, straight into a small. Even grounded clearing, with a small stream at the far end.

Ava looked at Mel, and opened her mouth

"Not a word" Mel growled. Ava smiled. "What are we going to sleep on" Mel asked

Ava shrugged once again, and said "why don't we focus on a fire first? I'm getting cold"

"Fine..." Mel sighed, knowing that they couldn't just avoid all their problems like that forever; being the logical minded someone she was. "You get the fire wood, and I'll look for something to start the fire going with"

"Fine" she sighed, "but somehow, I feel I'm getting the raw end of the deal" and with that she disappeared back into the thick, dark forest.

The second she disappeared, Mel fell onto the grass "fire starter, fire starter" she mumbled trying to think of what things she could possibly find there to start a fire. She lay there for a little bit, and looked up at the stars, that Ava so adored, and wondered why she adored them, they were just burning balls of gas, and up there, and those shooting stars she dreamed to be magical, why, they were only meteors, segments of rock falling though the atmosphere at-

"_Wait!" _She thought,_ "That's it! Rocks_! _Certain rocks create sparks!"_ she stood up and walked over to the stream, inspecting it's icy depths, after concluding that it could only be about a few inches deep, she plunged her hand in to grab a fist full of pebbles, she withdrew them, and dried them with a piece of her skirt, she sighed, now to test them all...

Ava weaved in and out of the forest in between trees, and under branches, stopping at certain timed to bend down and pick up a promising stick or small branch, then half the time tossing it away with disgust, bugs. She hated them. A lot. And even worse, these were strange bugs. she was so focused on her work, that when she bumped into a something that was a little to soft to be a tree, she screamed and dropped her entire armload of wood.

the thing that she had run into responded by letting out another, shriller scream then her own, feeling outdone, Ava screamed again, this time very shrill, the other thing also screamed again, yet shriller than Ava's. She tried to scream shriller, yet only succeeded in letting out a dry croak.

The thing burst out laughing, and soon Ava joined. After quite a few minutes both calmed down enough to speak.

"Who are you?" Ava asked, quite bluntly.

A girlish voice came out of the darkness, "I'm a traveler" it said evasively "who are you?"

Ava hesitated a moment wondering what to say, then she decided that two could play at this game "oh, I'm a traveler" she said in a distant voice. Smiling to herself when the other gave a exasperated sigh.

"Alright then" the voice said "fair enough, so, are you traveling alone?"

"Nope, Mel's back at the campsite, I'm just getting fire wood. How about you?" "I'm alone" the voice said, almost regretfully.

Ava thought for a moment, she knew this person could be dangerous; she was in an entirely different world for Frapichinos sake! But somehow, she felt she could trust this person. She didn't know why, but she just knew. "Well, if you don't mind helping me get firewood, you could come, and sit by ours for a while"

The voice was silent for a moment. Then it gave a little laugh, "alright, sure, why not? Where are you?"

Ava heard rustling, a grunt and then a large thump. Followed up by a small "ouch!" she giggled. She reached up to her headband, twisted, and a faint blue glow soon illuminated the forest with dark, moving shadows. She glanced around, and saw a lump on the ground a few feet away, she drew closer to find that the lump was actually a girl, sprawled on the floor, the girl stirred and sat up and stared at Ava.

The girl was about Ava's age from the looks of it. She was dressed fully, in black. She was wearing a black shirt, which fit tightly around her torso, and long sleeves that puffed out. She was wearing a black bandana, pirate style, and her long, wavy blond hair hung around her elbows. She had tanned skin, big, stunning green eyes, graced with thick dark lashes. Full, red, lips and a small nose. Silver earrings hung from her lobes in an intricate pattern. She had a simple gold locket over the black shirt, and, as she stood up, Ava could see she was wearing a black skirt, down to the middle of her shin, with a slit up to the middle of her right thigh and her small feet boasted black silk slippers.

They gawked at each other for a few more moments the strange girl staring at Ava strange out fit, wondering just how far this traveler had traveled. Finally Ava found her voice "love the outfit" she complimented

"Uh, ya thanks yours too, are those _real _gems?" she asked excitedly.

Ava frowned "I don't know." She said, then remembering what she was there for, "hey, so are you going to help me with the fire wood or not?" she said teasingly.

The girl smiled and jumped up, and began gathering firewood. After the two girls both had towering arm loads, the teetered back to the clearing, to find that Mel had started a small fire already. She folded her arms crossly "took you long enough, I had too-"she broke off in mid sentence when she saw the girl step out from behind Ava.

They both dropped their loads and ginned at each other "told you she was grumpy at night" Ava said, both girls giggled.

Mel felt her mood falling to an even lower level; she was so not in the mood. "Ha ha very funny" she said a little tight lipped. Ava and the girl looked at each other and then started piling pieces of wood on the fire "Careful!" Mel said agitatedly "you're going to stifle it, and then I'll have to make it all over again."

Ava rolled her eyes but stopped and plopped down on the grass across from Mel, and twisted the gem on her headband to shut off the light. "So, how did you start the fire Mel?" she asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Two rocks from the stream" Mel said shortly.

The girl sat down, quite gracefully, between the two and all three sat in silence for a while, each staring into the flames and they grew larger and licked the logs playfully, and getting lost in their own thoughts, as then night grew ever darker. Eventually, the fire gave a loud crack! As the wood settled all were awoken from their trace-like thoughts.

Suddenly Ava knew what she had wanted to ask this stranger. She turned to girl and asked "where are we?"

"Ansella, the country of the queen, part of the kingdom of Avion." She answered promptly without even looking up at Ava.

"Avion?" Ava asked incredulously that sounds kinda like my name.

"Or maybe, just maybe _your _name sounds like the name of the kingdom." Mel added, Rolling her eyes.

Ava stuck her tongue out at her. Then turned back the girl. "hey I was wondering-" she started, but a look from the girl silenced her

"you have been pulled into this world because of the prophecy of Zella it tells of 3 girls going against great odds to set their people, and the whole kingdom of Ansella free from the tyrants that control us, the Kzares, that is, the rest I cannot say."

For a few moments Ava and Mel just stared at her. Mouths open. They were just regaining their wits, when the girl murmured a few sharp sounds, and drew a strange symbol in the air. Then thrust an arm at each of them.

Instantly Ava felt her eyes closing, so, tired, she laid back on the grass as if in a trance. Looked up at the bright stars, then her eyes fell shut, to heavy to stay open any longer.

After both girls had fallen asleep the girl sighed. She had wished that she wouldn't have to do that, but she could see the questions, all the questions she wasn't allowed to answer, brimming about to spill out any moment. She stood, piled a few more logs into the fire, and walked towards the dark woods, disappearing into the night, as is she had never been.

A/N: sorry it took so long! But I hope this extra long chapter helped to make up for it The next one might also be a little slow in coming, cause I have exams this week, So what did u think? Please R&R!


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